White Amur Tiger
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The existence of pure white Amur tiger has not been scientifically proven, despite occasional reports of sightings of white tigers in the regions where wild Siberian tigers live. It is quite possible that the gene for white coating does not exist in the Siberian tiger population, since no pure white Siberian tigers have been born in captivity even though the Siberian tiger has been extensively bred during the last decades. The wild Siberian tiger population was nearly extinct during the middle of the 20th century, so it is also possible that the Siberian tigers carrying the gene for white coating died out during this period. More research is necessary before scientists can fully understand the genetic make up of the Siberian tiger.
The famous white Siberian tigers found in captivity are actually not pure Siberian tigers. They are instead the result of Siberian tigers breeding with Bengal tigers. The gene for white coating is quite frequently occurring among Bengal tigers, but the birth of a white Bengal tiger is naturally still a very rare occasion in the wild where white tigers are not bred selectively. A white tiger is caused by the occurrence of a double recessive allele in the genome. Estimations show that around one in 10,000 wild tiger births will result in a white tiger.
A white tiger is not considered a tiger subspecies, but rather a mutant variant of the existing tiger subspecies. If a pure white Siberian tiger would be born it would therefore not be selectively bred within the tiger conservation programs. It would however probably still be selectively bred outside the program in an effort to create more white Siberian tigers. Due to the popularity of the white tigers, they are used to attract visitors to zoos and will hopeful help raising awareness about all the tigers and their situation.
